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Powerpuff Girls Z
Powerpuff Girls Z, known in Japan as Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z (出ましたっ!パワパフガールズZ Demashita! Pawapafu Gāruzu Zetto?, roughly They're Here! Powerpuff Girls Z) or PPGZ for short, is a magical girl anime series based on theAmerican animated television series The Powerpuff Girls. The anime is co-produced by Cartoon Network Japan and Aniplex and was animated by Toei Animation, featuring character design by Miho Shimogasa (of Sailor Moon fame). As production occurred in Japan, Craig McCracken, the original creator of The Powerpuff Girls, was not directly involved with the project. The 52-episode series aired in Japan on TV Tokyo between July 1, 2006, and June 30, 2007. Since August 1, 2006, it has also aired on AT-X.[1] Since April 1, 2007, the program airs on Cartoon Network in Japan.[2] An English-dubbed version produced by Ocean Group aired by Cartoon Network Philippines on their Boomerang channel in 2008, though has not yet been released in North America, except for Mexico (and Latin America as well) where it airs on Cartoon Network. A manga of the same name ran in Shueisha's Ribon magazine between July 2006 and June 200 Plot The plot of the anime differs much from the original program. The Professor Utonium and his son Ken Kitazawa created Chemical Z (a variant of his father's Chemical X). Ken uses the chemical to destroy an ice glacier and avoid an ecological disaster. The impact causes white and black Z-Rays fly across the skies of New Townsville. The white lights hit''' Blossom',' Bubbles', and '''Buttercup' transforming them into The Powerpuff Girls. Those hit with the black light became bad guys of the series. After defeating Mojo Jojo, Mr. Mayor assigned them to be the heroines of the city. They are called to action using the cry of Ken Kitazawa's robot pet puppy, Peach. Differences From Original Version *The anime features new characters such as Utonium's son, Ken Kitazawa , and their robot pet puppy, Peach. Annie is also an original character that didn't appear in the American version. *In the opening of the original version, the Professor still retained the name 'Professor Utonium' *They are older in age than the original Powerpuff Girls. They're 13-year-old 7th grade Powerpuff Girls Z vs. the 5-year-old kindergarten Powerpuff Girls *The girls have different appearances and have weapons for use.﻿ *The girls are not related. *The girls were not created. *Mojo Jojo had nothing to do with the Powerpuff Girls. *Ace's real name is Bobby Green, unlike the original Powerpuff Girls, where his name actually is ''Ace D. Copular. *Instead of Townsville, like in the original, the city the girls and the professor live in is called New Townsville. In the Japanese version, it is Tokyo City. *Buttercup is the only one of the three now who can use eye lasers. Characters ''(Note: Most characters in the anime are present or at least based on their American counter-parts. Characters mentioned in this section are those with significant differences or not in the American version at all. For those present in both versions, there is also a brief PPGZ section on their main pages.) The Powerpuff Girls Z *''Momoko Akatsutsumi (赤堤ももこ, Akatsutsumi Momoko?) / Hyper-Blossom (ハイパー・ブロッサム, Haipā Burossamu?)is Blossom's counter-part. She was the first to be hit with the white light and the leader of the trio. Her main weapon is a Yo-Yo. She is very ditzy unlike her counter-part and is obsessed with boys and sweets. She is known as a "hero maniac" and is obsessed with helping others. Despite her ditzy nature, she can be quite clever and can come up with plans when the time comes. *'Miyako Gotokuji''' (豪徳寺みやこ, Gōtokuji Miyako?) / Rolling Bubbles (ローリング・バブルス, Rōringu Baburusu?)is Bubbles' counter-part. Her weapon is a giant bubble wand. She is quite ditzy and often seems to not completely understand her powers. She is known for being the sweet-heart of the school whom is always receiving love-notes from boys. She is more mature and calm than the other girls, but can be angered when provoked. She is extremely polite and loves shopping. She still has her stuffed Octi. She is very innocent, kind, gentle, and has a deep love for animals. *'Kaoru Matsubara (松原かおる, ''Matsubara Kaoru?) / Powered Buttercup (パワード・バターカップ, Pawādo Batākappu?)' is Buttercup's counter-part. She is much like her American self in personality. She likes to skateboard and hates wearing skirts (and she even got a cold from wearing her PPGZ uniform.) She was the last to be hit by the white light. She loves sports and is very athletic at school. She initially dislikes her teammates because they are very "girly" and only joins due to the power she has achieved. Unlike Bubbles, she does not use honorifics (which in Japan is very rude.)﻿ '''Other Protagonists Present in Both Adaptions' *'Professor Utonium' (ユートニウム博士, Yūtoniumu-Hakase) ''is very similar to his counter-part in the original series. He appears to work for the Mayor. He creates various inventions, including Chemical X which was adapted by his son Ken. He is a gentle father to his son and treats the PPGZ like daughters (which is ironic since they were his daughters in the original series.) *'The Mayor of Tokyo City/ New Townsville''' (or just Mr.Mayor) is not as dumb as the original version but is still shown to be quite dim-witted. He is a lot more normal looking being of normal height and having no monocle or top hat. He is not very childish. *'Miss Bellum' (ミス・ベラム, Misu Beramu) has blonde hair in the anime adaption. Her hair does not cover her face, rather she'll usually hold a tablet computer with red lips on it in front of her face. She still does the majority of the Mayor's work and is the brains of the operation. It is noted several times in the series that she is very attractive, including Fuzzy Lumpkins developing a crush on her. *'Miss Keane' (キーン先生, Kīn-sensei) is very pretty and is loved by her male students, although the female students don't like her as much, especially Princess Morbucks. Miss Keane, like the original, is kind and incredibly patient. Mojo Jojo gets a crush on her and trys very much to win her attention. when the girls every attempt gets thwarted by Miss Keane not letting them go to the nurse so they don't miss class time, they try telling Miss Keane that they are the PPGZ, but she does not believe them,and tells them to go to the nurse because there's something wrong with their heads... PPGZ Exclusive Protagonists *'Ken Kitazawa' (北沢ケン, Kitazawa Ken) ''is the Professor's son and he is a young genius. He invented Chemical Z. He is home schooled by his father and is much more educated than the girls, although he is only 8. He sees the girls as older sisters. The girls once tried to act as his mother, due to him not having a loving female figure in his life. *'Poochi/ Peach''' (ピーチ, Pīchi) is Ken's pet robotic dog. After being hit by the white light, he gained the ability to talk and gained intelligence. His cry prompts the girls' transformation and can regenerate their powers when drained. He can also sniff out those affected by Chemical Z and Him's black particles. However, the scent can be masked by cosmetics (as with Sedusa's makeup). It is possible that Poochi was partially inspired by the Talking Dog from the American version of "Powerpuff Girls". And it is a role of Powerpuff Girls Z's "Hotline". *'Kasey/Kuriko Akatsutsumi '(赤堤 くりこ, Akatsutsumi Kuriko) ''is Blossom's eight-year-old sister, Kasey is just as hyper and addicted to the sentai/hero genre as her older sister if not more. She is very independent and likes to pretend she is a heroine. She admires the Powerpuff Girls Z and wishes to be a heroine just like them (she tried to defeat Mojo Jojo's robot with a broom). She likes Bubbles and Buttercup, but she does not really like Blossom (who is actually her sister). She is also always looking for new ways to annoy her sister. She appears to be quite interested in Ken, especially when she realizes that he knows her sister. Similarly, Ken seems interested in her because of her resemblance to Blossom. Villains *'Mojo Jojo has different origins in the anime. He was not the Professor's lab assistant, rather he was an ordinary zoo monkey hit with the black light ray. He was often made fun of by humans and decided to seek revenge on humanity once hit with the light. He is physically more powerful than the original version of the character, able to fly and lay a dozen punches at one time. This version of Mojo frequently displays an immature attitude and makes the most childish flaws throughout his plans. While the original Mojo was portrayed as one of the most competent and genuinely threatening villains in the series, the anime version is more of a rather inept comic relief and is seen by the Powerpuff Girls as more of an annoying nuisance than a dangerous enemy. The anime Mojo also does not repeat himself redundantly as the original Mojo does, instead in the Japanese version, ending most sentences with saying Mojo. In this version he is a gorilla, rather than a chimp in the original series. *'''Fuzzy Lumpkins is very similar in both personality and appearance to his American counter-part. He is obsessed with his property and claims other things that don't belong to him as his own. He is very strong. Fuzzy has a huge crush on Miss Bellum. He can be nice to those showing him praise (such as those listening to him playing his banjo.) *'Him '''is the most powerful enemy of the series, and it is safe to say that he is the main antagonist. Him is an evil being saved, nothing more and nothing less than chaos itself. His biggest weakness is the cold. In ancient times, Him was dedicated to bring about the destruction of a small town, however, was defeated by Goodenough Girls X (Ooedo Chakichaki Girls) who took advantage of Him's weakness (cold) to lock him up and take part of their evil and save the mountains. But when Ken ended up destroying that mountain (below) Z-rays were scattered all around New Townsville, and consequently, over producing and giving birth to the many villains in the city. A black Z lightning struck Him and woke him. It is also known that he released a strange dust that was responsible for producing some villains. Unlike his American counterpart, Him dresses like a jester instead of an effeminate devil. Also, his voice isn't an echoing falsetto. *'Himeko Shirogane is Princess Morebucks's counter-part. She does not necessarily want to be a Powerpuff Girl, but she wishes to show them up due to them stealing her spot-light. Her cat's scream or her desires to be on top can trigger her transformation. When she is returned to normal, she cannot remember what happened while she was evil. Her desires to be noticed comes from her lack of attention at home. Her parents pay more attention to her older sister, Miko (Duchess in English), who is better than her at everything. *'''The Gangreen Gang are remotely similar to the ones in the American version, with the exception of Weevil (Lil' Arturo's counter-part) and Ivy (Snake) being girls, and how Ace lost his New York accent entirely. Unlike Lil' Arturo, Weevil does not have a Mexican accent. Also, everyone has different names: Bobby Green (Ace), Ivy (Snake), Weevil (Lil' Arturo), Lunk (Grubber) and Big Boy (Big Billy.) *'The Amoeba Boys' are also very much like the American ones with the exception of one of them being a girl. They are smaller in size and don't act like mobsters. *'Sedusa' was originally a sweet, shy girl named Annie. She has a crush on a boy that frequents her shop, but felt like she wasn't as pretty as Miss Bellum (whom she thought he liked.) While leaving to give Miss Bellum the lipstick she dropped, the black light hit her, turning her into the alter ego, Sedusa. Sedusa stole items such as make-up, jewelry and clothes that she thought would make her more attractive. Sedusa can take the form of anyone using cosmetics. She can also use her hair like tentacles like her American counter-part. Annie transforms into Sedusa when anxious and wearing lipstick. Annie has no memory of Sedusa's actions. *'The Rowdyruff Boys' were created by Mojo to destroy the PPGZ. They were made by the girls' and Mojo's DNA. Unlike their American counter-parts, they weren't resurrected by Him. They almost defeated the PPGZ by being extremely gross and disrespectful. Their actions include throwing gross objects (boogers, ear-wax and smelly socks) at the girls, peeing on the city, mooning the girls and lifting their skirts. They are very rude to Mojo, much to his dismay because he considers them his sons. When they want to suck up to him, then they act like loving sons. There is a ton of censorship of their actions in the English dub. Instead of peeing on the city, they use a water hose. They simply bent over and farted, instead of mooning the girls. And though the skirts were never lifted to a point where you could see their panties to begin with, only the girl's reactions are shown. The Rowdyruff Boys Z are also defeated with kisses. PPGZ Exclusives *'Michel' (ミッシェル, Missheru) is an effeminate hairdresser with strange tastes in hair and hair. He is judged and said to be a horrible stylist which causes him to cry. He uses his teddy bear for comfort. When he winds it, it gives him encouraging words. As he winds his teddy bear is hit by black Z-Rays and uses his power to hypnotize the customers to accept his eccentric hairstyle. He only changes when he winds his teddy bear. *'Miko Shirogane (Duchess Morebucks)' is the older sister of Himeko (Princess). She designed a dress which had all the capabilities of the weapons of Powerpuff Girls Z, and plans to outshine them. Her talent and praise amongst her family is often a source of jealousy for Himeko, often being the cause for her transformations. Her uniform was based on Bunny from the original cartoon. *'Takaaki (Cody)' (タカアキ, Takaaki) is a young boy who has spent most of his life in a hospital with an illness and was Bubbles' first crush, having met when they were kids. When he is hit by the dark light, he transforms into a werewolf-like monster and escapes, though does not attempt to harm others. Eventually he is found by Bubbles and returned to his normal form. Episodes Soundtrack The Powerpuff Girls Z: Original Soundtrack was released in Japanese stores on June 27, 2007. The CD contains TV sized versions of the show's opening and ending themes (although the song, Jig THE Upper, is the version that was featured on the single released by Hoi Festa and not the one used in the actual show,) a party mix of the show's music produced by TAICHI MASTER, and character songs sung by Emiri Katou, Nami Miyahara and Machiko Kawana. The supplied booklet also contains pre-production artwork, including a variety of concept designs for the Powerpuff Girls Z and other series characters. *Opening Themes #"Kibōu no Kakera" (希望のカケラ "Pieces of Hope") by Nana Kitade (eps. 1-26) #"Jigu THE Appā" (ジグ THE アッパー "Zig the Upper") by Hoi Festa (eps. 27-52) *Ending Themes #"Mayonaka no Door" (真夜中のドア "Door of Midnight") by Liu Yi Fei (eps. 1-13) #"LOOK" by HALCALI (eps. 14-26) #"Tōori Ame" (通り雨 "Rainshower") by Wiz-US (eps. 27-39) #"Himawari" (ひまわり "Sunflower") by Hearts Grow (eps. 40-52)﻿ Video Game A video game entitled Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z: The Game for the Nintendo DS by Namco was launched on June 12, 2007.3 It has board-game style gameplay similar to Mario Party and features Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup competing with Mojo Jojo to get to the centre of the board, competing in minigames along the way. Manga﻿ A manga adaptation, illustrated by Shiho Komiyuno, was published in Shueisha's Ribon magazine between July 2006 and June 2007. References #↑ Cartoon Network Philppines Site (http://www.cartoonnetwork.com.ph/minisite/ppgz/index.php) #↑ Original Wikipedia Article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powerpuff_Girls_Z) #↑ Anime News Network (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=5371) #↑ IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0989771/) See Also *The Powerpuff Girls (original series)